Numerous devices are available for mixing, stirring or blending foods. For example, beater mixers and blenders have long been known and can be found in many homes and restaurants. More recently, hand-held mixers, commonly referred to as "stick-blenders" have become increasingly popular in both domestic and commercial use due to their size, weight and versatility. Mixing devices of the foregoing type find advantageous application in the preparation of a wide variety of foods, such as cake batters, gravies, sauces, drinks and the like. In many applications, it is desirable to simultaneously apply heat, in some fashion, to the foods being mixed or blended. There have been proposed a number of mixing devices for domestic use which incorporate some form of heating system to warm the material being mixed. These devices, such as those disclosed in Lee U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,147 and Garbar U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,608 et al., typically include a heating element to warm a bowl or container in which the food ingredients are placed. Another device, disclosed in Cairelli U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,819, discloses a standard hand-held food mixer having beater elements surrounded by a heating element. None of the foregoing appliances, however, disclose a "stick-blender" having a heating element associated therewith, nor do they address the problem of heating thick mixtures, such as milk based sauces or gravy which have a heavy, thick consistency and which tend to burn and stick on to heating elements.
The present invention addresses these and other problems and provides a hand-held mixing device including a heating element for the simultaneous heating and mixing of food, which device includes control means for independently controlling the temperature of the heating element and the speed of the blender to minimize the likelihood of burning or scorching of food.